AV Research

There are as many myths and legends in the audio industry as there are written in the pages of a J.R.R. Tolkien novel. So great are these myths, that there are no shortage of myth busting articles; themselves giving rise to even more myths. With that in mind, Audioholics is taking on the task of myth busting ten bass and subwoofer myths we feel are more nonsense than fact. Myths we hope to lay to rest.

Sony’s object-based “360 Reality Audio” format will soon launch on Tidal, Amazon Music HD, Deezer, and the live-performance streaming service nugs.net. Sony hopes to “usher in a major music milestone” with the new format, which will work on any iOS/Android mobile device, and any brand of headphones. But Sony’s new format faces direct competition from Dolby Atmos Music. Will either contender emerge victorious, or will this be the next SACD vs DVD-Audio format war head to the streaming front? Read on to learn more.

Major filmmakers and Hollywood studios have teamed up with an industry coalition called The UHD Alliance to develop a new TV viewing mode called Filmmaker Mode. This mode would automatically, or with the push of a single button, disable post-processing such as motion smoothing (a.k.a. “The Soap Opera Effect”) and preserve the correct aspect ratios, colors, and frame rates chosen by the content creators. With Filmmaker Mode, your TV would always display your movies and TV shows exactly as the filmmakers intended them to be seen. Read on to learn more.

When it comes to streaming services, we have the big players like Apple, Amazon, and Spotify. Now we can add Qobuz to the list of boutique brands like Tidal that cater to audiophiles. Given that Tidal seems to be struggling, we wondered if there was in fact a need for yet another niche streaming service. We extensively tested the two Hi-Res streaming services for the last SIX MONTHS! See what our conclusions were between the two services in our article and which one sounded best. Be sure to watch our recently added YouTube discussion.

Dealing with acoustics in small rooms is no trivial matter. The quest for the “perfect” room all depends on your expectations, why you are listening (business or pleasure), what program you are listening to, and the condition of the ears you are listening through. This article and recently added YouTube discussion focuses on the topic of early reflections in small room acoustics and how to deal with them based on listening preferences and the accuracy of your loudspeakers. The portions of side walls responsible for first lateral reflections are specified as “optional areas: absorb, diffuse, reflect.” It is a decision to be made by the customer and/or the installer.

Last year we reported on Dolby restricting upmixing of non-native content through their DSU or crossmixing their formats with other upmixers. This had the potential of restricting consumer choices for upmixing content through competitor upmixers such as DTS Neural:X or Auro-matic. Apparently enough backlash was felt from licensee partners and consumers causing Dolby to withdraw this restriction on new Atmos enabled AV products. Read on to find out the implications and what to expect going forward.

The new Dirac Live Bass Management protocol debuts at CEDIA this September and promises perfect bass for your home theater. Their long awaited bass management software is said to analyze the bass in your room from each subwoofer and speaker and put them in perfect phase alignment with each other while also smoothing out the response. Will this open up more placement options and make it easier to integrate your subwoofers? Read on to find out.

In our subwoofer reviews, we post a very comprehensive set of measurements that illuminates the full range of a subwoofer's performance. We have noticed that one of the graph sets in our subwoofer reviews have been a bit cryptic for much of our readership, however, for those who understand what is being displayed, they are some of the most illuminating graphs in looking at how well the subwoofer maintains accuracy from low loudness levels to its maximum limits. In this article, we attempt to shed some light on these graphs so any reader can follow them to get a better understanding of what their subwoofer is actually doing.

The waterfall plots and polar maps often seen in Audioholics' speaker reviews are colorful and visually interesting, but what can they really tell us about a loudspeaker's performance? In this article, we explain the meaning of these graphs. We try to help you understand what to look for in determining the sound character of speakers from the information displayed in these graphs, so you can use them to find the right speaker for your system.

In this editorial, we make a call to action to Sound United, the largest entity of AV receiver manufacturers, to lead the industry in specifying amplifier power more honestly. We suggest a method of rating multi-ch AV receivers to give consumers a better idea of actual product performance. Truth has become a marketable commodity in an era of fake news. We’re calling this the Truth in Power (TiP) movement. And that movement is going to need our readers’ signatures and voices too. Tell us what you think and sign our petition today!

Over the last couple of years, Audioholics’ speaker reviews have contained measurement graphs that have prompted questions from many readers about the meaning and importance of the information displayed in them. Some readers have found the information in them confusing, and that is our fault for not recognizing how cryptic these sort of representations are for an average reader. In this article, we explain frequency response and the set of frequency response curves known as the 'Spin-O-Rama' curves.

Ultra High Definition is finally starting to take hold in the market with equipment prices that are beginning to drop into the range for buyers of normal means with more HD content becoming available for everyone’s viewing enjoyment. But what does the new technology entail and how does one navigate all the new specifications, acronyms, and jargon along with all the recycled, updated, and bastardized terminology from the previous generation of HDTV. That is where Audioholics comes in to do some critical review to help you, the reader, sort through it all.

Do grilles on speakers really make a difference on or off? Most home audio loudspeaker grilles are removable so their use is optional for most applications. Given how fussy audio enthusiasts can be though the use of grilles has been a point of strong personal preference for as long as there have been home audio loudspeakers. This article will help resolve the issue of whether or not to remove them for critical listening and how they affect the overall sound. Check out our recently added YouTube discussion on this topic for further insights.

Which is more accurate at detecting sound: our ears or a microphone? Most people might automatically assume a microphone since a good microphone can measure sound pressure over frequency so precisely, but the reality is even the most sophisticated microphones are relatively simple devices compared to human hearing. What makes our hearing so special compared to the exactitude of a microphone? You will have to read our article to see if the ear is mightier than the microphone at gauging sound.